Under Scrutiny for Years, ITT Tech Shuts Doors

If you’ve ever taken the time to watch TV during a weekday afternoon, you’ve probably noticed a lot of the advertisements seem to target individuals who are easy to manipulate. Whether it’s an ad for pay day loans, ambulance chasers or in this case for-profit educational institutions, all the schemes are targeted at people who need the most help in life. But, are these institutions really there to provide people with an education that promises them a better life or just looking to make a quick buck?

Whatever the reason may be, only about 25% of students graduate from ITT Tech and more that 30% of students default on their loans. This in itself tends to raise the suspicion that the educational institution is picking on people across the country who dream and hope of a better life via a strong education but are often let down along the way.

Just last month, the federal government said that enough was enough and that ITT Tech was going to have to provide an additional $153 million dollars in loan backing to cover the possible losses we, the tax payers, may incur when students fail to graduate and not pay back their loans. Seemingly, the bosses at ITT decided the charade was over and without the government willing to back their lack luster educational program the best decision was to take the money and run.

ITT Tech released a statement saying that they have released an ”overwhelming majority” of their staff – more than 8,000 employees. Not only are these employees out of a job overnight, but students are left with nowhere to go as campuses have been closed and nobody remains to instruct the classes. Fortunately, the government has said that students will be able to cancel the student loans they have taken on while attending ITT Tech, but only if they decide to not transfer their credits to another institution.

On the flip side, those credits obtained at ITT may not be so easy to transfer anyways. Some not-for profit colleges are wary taking credits from schools such as ITT because some of their programs aren’t properly accredited. Likewise, there have been reports of students claiming their professors weren’t real professors at all, but just industry professionals looking to make some extra cash teaching on the side. While that in itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as industry pros usually have great insights and helpful tips for students, there likely isn’t a high enough level of vetting going on to make sure that these instructors are capable of guiding students to a rewarding career.

In the end, it will be interesting to see what the future has in hold regarding for-profit schools and the general higher education system in general as more and more students are finding it harder and harder to find rewarding jobs after graduation and pay back the money they borrow.

Garrett is a qualified engineer, and when he's not helping businesses grow as a consultant at Palladous, you can find him building hobby race cars, managing the family farming business or chilling out on the lake fishing.
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